Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

438 / ANARCHISM
still more dissimilar are they in their physiological, menta\ and psychical make-up.
'
Yet in spite of this diversity and of a thousand and one differentiations of character
we compel people to be alike today. Our life and habits, our behaviour and manners,
even our thoughts and fe elings are pressed into a uniform mold and fa shioned into
sameness. The spirit of authority, law, written and unwritten, tradition and custom
force li S into a common groove and make of man a will-less automaton without independence
or individuality. This moral and intellectual bondage is more compelling
than any physical coercion, more devastating to our manhood and development. All
of us are its victims, and only the exceptionally strong succeed in breaking its chains,
and that only partly ...
But the general view that conformity is a natural trait is entirely fa lse. On the
contrary, given the least chance, unimpeded by the mental habits instilled from the
very cradle, man evidences uniqueness and originality. Observe children, fo r instance,
and you will see most varied differentiation in manner and attitude, in mental
and psychic expression. You will discover an instinctive tendency to individuality and
independence, to non-conformity, manifested in open and secret defiance of the will
imposed from the outside, in rebellion against the authority of parent and teacher.
The whole training and "education" of the child is a continuous process of stifling
and crushing this tendency, the eradication of his distinctive characteristics, of his
unlikeness to others, of his personality and originality. Yet even in spite of year-long
repression, suppression, and molding, some originality persists in the child when it
reaches maturity, wh ich shows how deep are the springs of individuality ...
Life in freedom, in Anarchy, will do more than liberate man merely from his
present political and economic bondage. That will be only the first step, the preliminary
to a truly human existence. Far greater and more significant will be the results of
sllch liberty, its effects upon man's mind, upon his personality. The abolition of the
coercive external will, and with it of the fear of authority, will loosen the bonds of
moral compulsion no less than of economic and physical. Man's spirit will breathe
freely, and that mental emancipation will be the birth of a new culture, of a new humanity.
Imperatives and taboos will disappear, and man will begin to be himself, to
develop and express his individual tendencies and uniqueness. Instead of " thou shalt
not," the public conscience will say "thou mayest, taking full responsibility." That
will be a training in human dignity and self-reliance, beginning at home and in
school, which will produce a new race with a new attitude to life.
The man of the coming day will see and feel existence on an entirely different
plane. Living to him will be an art and a joy. He will cease to consider it as a race